“Due to high water along the lower Ohio River at
Paducah, the floodgates that protect the city are being installed. To
protect the safety of visitors to the American Quilter's Society annual
Quilt Show & Contest, events usually held at the Paducah-McCracken
County Expo and Julian C. Carroll Convention Center have been moved.”

A floodgate is installed in Paducah's flood wall,
which is normally open to the river.

Even with the creek (river) rising, the Lord was
apparently willing and the tireless AQS staff was able to keep the quilt
show afloat (yes, it is a terrible pun) despite the odds that were
stacked against them this last weekend of April in Paducah.

Events began to take shape
during the winter and very wet spring the U.S. experienced this year.
Across the major river basins of the nation there was still a heavy
accumulation of snow that was melting as the weather warmed. To make
matters worse, line after line of storms marched across the Middle West
all during February, March, and April. As many of you already
know, Paducah is situated on the Ohio River, a major tributary of the
Mississippi, and it boasts flood walls with murals of the town’s history
(which has included more than its share of flooding). As many times as I
have been to Paducah, I have mostly thought of the beautifully painted
flood walls as a sort of nice decorative touch for the town, never
really considering what they were built to do! Oh, yeah, keep the river
from covering the town with brown, muddy water. Seriously.

The crisis started when BonnieBrowning, the show's director, got the word
on Easter Sunday that the flood gates would be closed and the convention
center that lies behind it would not be useable for the show. Since all
of the actual show quilts were to be housed there, this was a seemingly
insurmountable problem. However, never underestimate the power of
quilters, especially those from AQS.

Lynn interviews Bonnie Browning in the parking lot of
the AQS Paducah show.

Venue problems were nothing
new to this group. First the show had outgrown the former Executive Inn
(Big E) venue, an old and rundown riverfront dinosaur hotel which was
finally torn down this year (to the town's great relief). And a couple
of years before there was the wait for the new convention center to be
built so that quilters could actually move in the aisles between the
quilts again. Last year the big E closed, mired in foreclosure woes, and
AQS scrambled to figure out another option, which became the
controversial “bubble," a giant inflatable building they used again this
year. But this year was supposed to be different: the old albatross of a
hotel was now a spacious parking area and there waslots or room for everything in the modern
convention center.

Except for the tiny detail of
the convention center’s location: it
is on the river side of the flood walls and the gates that would be
closed. Predictions
were that if the river crested as expected, there would be two feet of
water in the convention center.Wading through the center was not an option.
Although I’m sure anxiety rose to a flood stage right then and there,
some decisions were made immediately. Since they were in the middle of
judging when the bad news came, and all the quilts were already hanging
on display, the group continued its judging. Then the AQS staff had to
decide what to do next. There must have been some quick scrambling as
the quilts were un-hung and returned to the warehouse and all the
just-assembled scaffold to hang the quilts taken down and stowed as
well—in the rain.

From there, it was calls to many other Paducah
citizens who literally put down their forkfuls of Easter ham to show
vacant buildings and offer possibilities. By Monday, it was all decided
and new homes for quilts and vendors alike determined. What usually
takes 18 months of careful planning had been redone in eight hours of
under-the-gun effort, and by Monday, there was a press update notifying
everyone of the changes. And by the time the program was handed out on
Thursday, all the shifts were printed in the pages just like it was
supposed to have been like that all along. Awesome!!

Because all the vendors and classes were relocated,
not all the original booth sizes could be retained. Non-sponsor vendors
were told they would have to downsize, some by half their original
space, and had to quickly prioritize their wares given the reduced
display area.

We arrived on Friday morning and immediately ran into
Bonnie Browning, who was amazingly frisky for someone who had just
rearranged a massive quilt show on a dime. She told us the story that we
just retold here, adding that it was her well-trained staff who knew
what to do and did it who had made this event possible. “My cell phone
was completely drained for two days running. I’m just glad my phone
calls today are no worse that needing to arrange for another trash
pick-up!"

We started the show at the inflatable Pavilion, which
was the official stand-in for the Paducah Convention Center. This housed
the Best of Show, category and bed quilts along with all the vendors who
were initially scheduled to be in the center as well. Everyone seemed
fairly unfazed by the sudden rearrangement, and vendors were
experiencing lots of traffic through the booths. The quilts, as always,
are the true stars of the event, and the Pavilion showed them off to
good advantage. Another plus this year was that the indoor temperature
in the bubble seemed much better regulated than before, so no one was
wishing they could wrap themselves in a show quilt to avoid frostbite.

Later we walked into town, and
the usual pop-up shops were there, with many vendors down on the main
street selling vintage textiles and some awesome old quilts. One of the
“just for the show” vendors had tables heaped with embroidered and
crocheted doilies, napkins and what-have-you, all for the bargain price
of $1 each or 12/$10. Though they couldn’t be termed premium specimens,
they will be great to add a little this or that to some of my mixed
media experiments. A little further up the way they were selling fabric
panels that were enlargements of old-time postcards from Paducah, so I
had to have one of each. Then was a stop at the Finkel Building, where I
picked up some cool contemporary fabric for burp cloths, and a pattern
for a great wool scarf.

As
we were leaving downtown to go back to our car and dump our loot, we
encountered a new personage in town, known as "The Quilt Man of
Paducah." As he sped by on his Segway, his quilted cape flying behind
him, we did a double-take. Rob tried to get a good picture, but it
seemed that whenever we saw Quilt Man he was always flying away. He was
perhaps headed for a filming, as he turned up in an indie film being
screened locally during quilt week.

With all the morning tasks accomplished, it
was time for the traditional lunch at Grace Episcopal Church, where we
had sliders with pimento cheese, ham, and chicken
salad nestled in the bun, with wonderful cupcakes for dessert. Joining
us for this yummy opportunity were the Paducah Hollands, Nicholas, Sarah
and Griffin. To the consternation of his mother, charming servers kept
coming to offer my grandson Griffin more cupcakes after he had eaten
more than his quota. Watching a two-year-old
stuff his face with frosting can be adorable, but only if you don’t have
to take that sticky, over-sugared child home!

Next on our agenda was Carson Park, where quilting
queen Eleanor Burns was holding court. She was introducing her Radiant
Star quilt with her usual mix of flair and silliness. Dressed in a
pretty authentic looking astronaut getup, she led volunteers from the
audience in a version of “Swinging on a Star” and introduced her infant
granddaughter who was backstage. A poll of the pretty full tent revealed
that half the audience were returning fans from previous years,
testimony to her enduring popularity. Although we did not stay for the
whole show, we never miss an opportunity to see Eleanor. She led the way
in making quilting accessible to those of us who want or need to “get it
done.” I credit her with my return to quilting some twenty years ago,
and with being a trailblazer in embracing rotary cutters and other
process enhancing tools as well as spreading the word to others.

Eleanor Burns dons her spacesuit.

Then it was time to venture
out to the Kentucky Oaks Mall where we found the always engaging
Martelli group, showing their latest machine quilting tool, the weighted
hoop. They were also demo-ingthe zip bind system, which I swear by as the
tool that took the bad words out of binding.

Across the parking lot there
were two big-box stores, the former Circuit City and Office Max, who had
fallen on hard times, and their now-vacant spaces had been pressed into
emergency service to house vendors. Boy Scout Troop 200 had shrewdly set
up a food tent annex and were selling their famous strawberry shortcakes (known as
“The Works”) ,well, like shortcakes! Although
the buildings themselves had been transformed into show space and vendor
booths fairly nicely, lighting
at these stores left something to be desired. However, it was certainly
no worse than the old area that was the underbelly of the pool at the
Big E, neither did it reek of chlorine. In my estimation, it was rather
pleasant to have the break from quilt input that traveling from one
venue to the next provided.

Saturday morning we had to go
back and buy the stuff we didn’t buy on Friday, so we had a basic plan.
We also had to visit the AQS museum, which is celebrating its 20th
anniversary this year. Since we were nice and early, we snagged a
parking spot which happened to be a block down the street from Caryl
Bryer Fallert’s home, shop and Bryerpatch Studio. Since we remembered
her having some fun stuff in the shop previously, we decided to stop in.
As luck would have it, a tour of the home and studio was just forming
and we decided to tag along with the rest of the assembled curious
quilters. Our tour guide is a close friend of Caryl’s, and offered lots
of wonderful insights into the beautiful home. Caryl has a fabulous
vaulted-ceiling living room, which boasts a blue-sky ceiling, complete
with clouds and a bird in flight. Before moving to Paducah, Caryl spent
many years as a United Airlines flight attendant. Each nook and cranny
held some work of art or treasured collection, and it was quite
interesting to have such an intimate glimpse into the artist’s life. In
awe of such generosity on the part of the artist to open her home to
tours, I was a little taken aback by some of my fellow tour-goers when
they poked fingers between the stitches of Caryl’s hand-crocheted
bedspread to ascertain what sort of blanket lay beneath. Really,
ladies?? We got to see the fabulous studio and Caryl’s very own fabric
stash (which had its own separate storage room), as well as many of her
lovely art quilts. In addition to the studio space, Caryl maintains a
B&B in her home which she opens to workshop participants as well as
traveling quilters. You can check out the workshop schedule and the
accommodations at http://www.bryerpatch.com/
. Since she is one of the stars of the film we planned to attend that
afternoon, this tour was sort of a cool serendipitous event.

We trekked down to AQS
American Quilt Museum, where the Yo-Yo Ladies were busy in the lobby
making yo-yos and selling yo-yo items at a rapid clip. Many folks were
going to see the 20 new quilts acquired in honor of the museum’s 20th
anniversary, and even more were selecting souvenirs and gifts from the
gift shop. I was thrilled to buy an actual room key from the former Big
E, along with some darling books for my grandchildren. Next stop was
back at the Pavilion, where many of the AQS souvenir items were sold
out!! Who knew those coffee mugs and luggage tags would be in such demand?

Next was a quick run through the Main Street vendors,
where I bought a precious rag scarf and a couple of baby items.

No trip to Paducah is complete without a stop at two
of the places that operate year-round: Hancock’s of Paducah and Surplus
City. Hancock’s of Paducah had suspended its online mail order business
during the quilt show to tend to the swarms of real live customers. I
had to buy some of the Lily and Will “Bunny Hill” line for the expected
new grandchildren, and some alphabet white tone-on-tone fabric for
Griffin’s new quilt. The backroom had women snapping up the bargain
fabric at a rapid clip. One of the signs of fabric contagion was
overheard when someone said, "I’m buying fabric and I don’t even sew!!!”

The back room at Hancock's of Paducah was crazy with
sales.

Surplus City on the other hand didn’t appear to have
too many quilters, just the usual bargain hunters. This Paducah
institution features stock that ranges from trash to treasure, with
everything in between. I found some lovely stone coasters for just $2.49
a set, plus a totally awful Turner field picture pillow as a gag gift
for my Braves-fan son. After those stops, it was time for lunch,
so we decided to head back downtown and check out the food venues.

For the last several years,
special credit has gone to Whaler’s Catch, a longstanding downtown
restaurant, who sold fantastic looking boiled shrimp in the food
court—such a refreshing and fresh option for those who may be fried- and
carbed-out. There were the expected barbeque and funnel cakes, and of
course, the Boy Scout Troop 200’s main strawberry shortcake booth. Not
finding anything that quite suited us, we drove a mile down Broadway to
the Artisan Kitchen, where we got a much-needed salad fix.

Our last official quilt event
was attending a showing of “Stitched,” a documentary focused on the
competition for Best of Show prize at the Houston International Quilt
Show. This movie follows three quilters: Hollis Chatelain, Randall Cook
and Caryl Bryer Fallert through the quilt-making process and the quilt
competitions that shape how they earn a living. Two extra bonuses at the
show: Ricky Tims was in the audience (as well as the movie) and director
Jenalia Moreno gave a brief introduction to the film and was available
to answer questions afterward. If you can’t find a showing of this in
your local area, the DVD is available on line and might make a fun
diversion at your guild meeting or stitch-in. You can find this at:
http://www.stitchedfilm.com/

This year's AQS event in Paducah was, as they
always seem to be, special in its own way. And even better news for
Paducah is that the flood walls held and protected the city against the
worst high water in more than 50 years. As daughter-in-law Sarah posted
on her Facebook page: "I love the flood wall! I love the flood wall! I
love the flood wall!" Paducah will be around for another year as Quilt
City, USA.